Just a week to go before Armies of the Fifth Frontier War comes out!
Learn how armies use technologies available, and how this is reflected in their tactics. Covers the unified armies of the Imperium, the Zhodani Consulate, Darrians & Sword Worlds...
The Fifth Frontier War is generally seen as primarily a naval conflict, but without control of populations naval victories are meaningless. Naval forces are capable of turning cities into slag, and should the conflict become one of total destruction such devastation might be inflicted on a frequent basis. There is no indication this will transpire, so both sides will need to secure population centres in order to make their naval victories count. It is a reasonable generalisation that ground operations are impossible without naval forces, and naval operations are pointless without a ground campaign.
Without boots on the ground, to use an ancient term, gains made by the naval forces can quickly be lost to insurrection and rebellion. This may or may not matter all that much; minor worlds are typically not worth a lot at the negotiating table unless they occupy a strategic location. It may be that it is preferable to bypass some worlds, leaving their ground forces to ‘wither on the vine’ without support, or to demand surrender from orbit in the knowledge that it will not be honoured if the tide of the naval war turns.
Learn how armies use technologies available, and how this is reflected in their tactics. Covers the unified armies of the Imperium, the Zhodani Consulate, Darrians & Sword Worlds...
The Fifth Frontier War is generally seen as primarily a naval conflict, but without control of populations naval victories are meaningless. Naval forces are capable of turning cities into slag, and should the conflict become one of total destruction such devastation might be inflicted on a frequent basis. There is no indication this will transpire, so both sides will need to secure population centres in order to make their naval victories count. It is a reasonable generalisation that ground operations are impossible without naval forces, and naval operations are pointless without a ground campaign.
Without boots on the ground, to use an ancient term, gains made by the naval forces can quickly be lost to insurrection and rebellion. This may or may not matter all that much; minor worlds are typically not worth a lot at the negotiating table unless they occupy a strategic location. It may be that it is preferable to bypass some worlds, leaving their ground forces to ‘wither on the vine’ without support, or to demand surrender from orbit in the knowledge that it will not be honoured if the tide of the naval war turns.
